A unique coalition has historically supported charter schools, Cohodes said: Republicans who back school choice efforts and Democrats largely from urban areas who argue schools have failed to support students of color and those from low-income families.
"That sort of coalition came together to say 'ideally ... we would reform and improve public education but in the meantime, we shouldn't wait for things to improve in the public system," Cohodes said. "We need to have options that work for our kids now.'"
"More and more families are making the same move," said Sarah Cohodes, associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, who researches education policy, charter schools and school choice.
She has found in her research that while charter schools have been around for decades, the pandemic spurred higher rates of absenteeism at traditional public schools and drove a "greater willingness" for families to choose other options. "What I think happened is the pandemic made people reevaluate their relationship to school," Cohodes said. "Maybe they saw what happened in school in a way that they hadn't before, and then had this greater willingness to switch."
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